[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 84 (Monday, May 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23220-23221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10279]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0017]


Notice of Revision and Request for Extension of Approval of an 
Information Collection; Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Revision and extension of approval of an information 
collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's 
intention to revise an information collection associated with the 
Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey and to request extension of 
approval of the information collection.

DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before July 
2, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to (http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2010-0017) to submit or view comments 
and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
    <bullet> Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send two copies of 
your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0017, Regulatory Analysis and 
Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, 
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to 
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0017.
    Reading Room: You may read any comments that we receive on this 
docket in our reading room. The reading room is located in room 1141 of 
the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to 
help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming.
    Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its 
programs is available on the Internet at (http://www.aphis.usda.gov).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the Cooperative 
Agricultural Pest Survey, contact Dr. John Bowers, National Survey 
Coordinator, Emergency and Domestic Programs, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 
Road Unit 26, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 734-3658. For copies of more 
detailed information on the information collection, contact Mrs. 
Celeste Sickles, APHIS' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 
851-2908.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey.
    OMB Number: 0579-0010.
    Type of Request: Revision and extension of approval of an 
information collection.
    Abstract: Under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), 
the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, either independently or in 
cooperation with States, to carry out operations or measures to detect, 
eradicate, suppress, control, prevent, or retard the spread of plant 
pests and noxious weeds that are new to or not widely distributed 
within the United States. This authority has been delegated to the 
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
    To carry out this mission, the Plant Protection and Quarantine 
(PPQ) program, APHIS, has joined forces with the States and other 
agencies to create a program called the Cooperative Agricultural Pest 
Survey (CAPS). The CAPS program coordinates these efforts through 
cooperative agreements with the States and other agencies to collect 
and manage data on plant pests, noxious weeds, and biological control 
agents, which may be used to control plant pests or noxious weeds.
    This program allows the States and PPQ to conduct surveys to detect 
and measure the presence of exotic plant pests and noxious weeds and to 
enter survey data into a national computer-based system known as the 
National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS). This, in turn, 
allows APHIS to obtain a more comprehensive picture of plant pest and 
noxious weed conditions in the United States as well as detect, in 
collaboration with the National Plant Diagnostic Network and the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture 
(NIFA), population trends in plant pests or noxious weeds that could 
indicate an agricultural bioterrorism act.
    The information captured by CAPS and generated by NAPIS is used by 
States to predict potential plant pest and noxious weed situations in 
the United States and by Federal interests (e.g., PPQ and NIFA) to 
promptly detect and respond to the occurrence of new plant pests or 
noxious weeds and to provide documentation on plant pests and noxious 
weeds to facilitate and record the location of those incursions that 
could directly hinder the export of U.S. farm commodities. The system 
also provides data management support for PPQ programs, such as 
imported fire ant, sudden oak death, and gypsy moth.
    The CAPS program involves certain information collection 
activities, including cooperative agreements, pest detection surveys, 
and the Specimens for Determination Form (PPQ Form 391).
    We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve 
our use of these information collection activities for an additional 3 
years.
    We are revising the title of the current collection from ``National 
Agricultural Pest Information System'' to ``Cooperative Agricultural 
Pest Survey'' to convey that the activity components comprise the CAPS 
program rather than the computer-based NAPIS.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public 
(as well as affected agencies) concerning our information collection. 
These comments will help us:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated, 
electronic, mechanical, and other collection technologies; e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Estimate of burden: The public reporting burden for this collection 
of information is estimated to average 0.2376543 hours per response.
    Respondents: State Cooperators and universities participating in 
the CAPS program.
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 108.
    Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 135.
    Estimated annual number of responses: 14,580.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 3,465 hours. (Due to 
averaging, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of 
the annual number of responses multiplied by the reporting burden per 
response.)
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request

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for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of public 
record.
    Done in Washington, DC, this 27\th\ day of April 2010.

Kevin Shea
Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-10279 Filed 4-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 3410-34-S